Even the Master of Faster was hyperventilating beneath his helmet after that one. It came as a surprise to him that the bottom of his helmet didn't start fogging up. When he rode on Kyle's Sacred Ash Raikou that day, the one thing he regretted he couldn't do was see how fast the Beast could go with the Z-Move his Gym was known for. Even the most shallow turns at that speed made Josh's body ragdoll as much as Raikiri's cocoon saddle would allow. It hurt to move any direction but directly forward at the fastest speed Josh had ever gone on a land Pokémon. If Raikou's Z-Move was even faster than this... count him out.

Even he recognized his own limits.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!" Josh screamed, frantically pulling back on the reins. "TOO FAST!!" The duo turned from a swirl of colors to a mere yellow-and-black blur as the Zeraora resumed normal running speeds, which were still incredibly fast. Looking ahead, he felt the heat substantially turn up as he rounded an easy corner. Were those Chandelure superheating strips of the course? Josh felt bad that Pyre's ghosts were making things unnecessarily hard on Lars and his Articuno. He had enough of an advantage sitting on one of the fastest Pokémon in the world. While Articuno were impressively swift, they lacked in raw speed.

The red blinking started to strain Josh's eyes, the klaxon-like noise quickly getting agitating. Out of an abundance of caution, Josh reined Raikiri toward the outside, weaving around the many superheated strips on the course. As he passed by one, they appeared to have the texture of bubbling magma directly above the Chandelure. Obviously this was an illusion, but it didn't make the hazard any less threatening!

Gym Leader Josh Devlin 's ZERAORA was giving this race everything it had, whether he wanted it or not. Tangs of pain shot down from his waist to his toes and down his shoulder to the tips of his fingers. A cocoon saddle had its benefits, but it had its drawbacks, too. One was the tremendous stress it put on his body, its leathers digging into his sides with every turn. A heat like the opening of a broiling oven's door washed over Josh and Raikiri every time they grazed the heated areas. The duo came frighteningly close to running over one of them, risking baking their undersides. With only a split second to dodge them while coasting off the scary speed the HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE let them previously reach, every single reaction had to be on point, and borderline superhuman at that.

Laurence Anderson 's reserved approach left he and his ARTICUNO very far behind. They were so far behind that he couldn't even see Josh and his ZERAORA. On the other hand, he could now see the course for several seconds in front of him, which would make reacting to its tricks and hazards far easier. It wasn't over by any stretch, but even a Z-MOVE would likely leave the Iceborne Mirage short. To have a chance, the Head Ranger would need to be on top of his game!

As the racers crossed the checkpoint arch, the colors of the track beneath them began flickering between their usual colors and lighter versions of those same colors. It was an indication that this was the final "loop" around the course. While its twists and turns would be unpredictable as ever, it was an indicator that the end of the race was coming swiftly!

[player]https://fi.zophar.net/soundfiles/nintendo-gamecube-gcn/f-zero-gx/235b%20-%20DIZZY%20%28Phantom%20Road%29.mp3[/player]

NEW SONG! DIZZY - Final Lap - F-ZERO GX ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK

Prompt: Shortly after the second archway is a steep incline that peaks into a blind right turn. After cresting the incline, racers have a split second to react to the first of a series of back-and-forth turns of varying angles, the stretch seemingly designed for racers to crash. Racing aficionados would know that the Hoenn Racing Federation would never approve of curves this hazardous. Overly speedy Pokémon would almost certainly need to slam on the brakes to avoid brushing the phantom barriers keeping the competition from falling thousands of feet into Lake Pyre far below!

Target Number 1: 165 (Reaction)

Special 1: Pokémon that roll beneath this Obstacle's Target Number will lose 1% Stamina for every 2 points by which the Target Number exceeds the Pokémon's Total Roll.

Josh and Raikiri had built up a massive lead as they had crossed the arch for the second time. They could coast during the last lap and the challenger would never be able to catch up. It was his race to lose. Thoughts swirled in the Gym Leader's mind as the phantoms of Mount Pyre drew the course ahead of him. During Operation Meteno, Josh had ridden on Articuno's back alongside the Composed. That day, they had achieved incredible speeds on their way to the meteoroid. As the Zeraora ran up the slope, the question seemed to etch into his mind, buzzing like a Cutiefly on the wall. Did Lars have his head in the game? Was the trust between Avatar and Patron compromised? Or was he distracted by something? If only Josh knew the suffering he and the Iceborne Mirage were going through, it would explain why the race was such a blowout.

As the two sped up the incline, the Zeraora still blinking red and rider still hearing a klaxon-like sound that was beginning to annoy him, the sudden curve caught Josh off guard. He pulled back on Raikiri's reins hard, releasing almost all leg pressure from his mount. His loud shout echoed all over the course, the deceleration causing him to nearly ragdoll face-first into his mythical ride's neck. Only the cocoon he was secured in saved him. Even so, the sudden deceleration was painful. Raikiri, too, roared, intense showers of sparks flying from his paws, feeling they were on fire from the tremendous friction produced by the sharp braking. If they didn't kill as much speed as possible quickly, they were going to pinball around the Dead Man's Curves ahead!

Dead Man's Curves, as they were called, were forbidden in the design of Hoenn Racing Federation tracks for the very reason the two teams of legendary Pokémon and riders were about to display. Both Pokémon tested the mental and physical capabilities of their riders, Josh Devlin 's ZERAORA whipping his innards back and forth like the swishing body of an aquatic serpent. Even at the slower speeds the dangerous corners mandated, the pressure it put on him was tremendous, perhaps even painful. By the time the duo had rounded the fourth corner, the physical stresses on his body caused him to misjudge a curve, sliding along the outer ethereal wall and agitating the scrapes the electric-type had already suffered. The ZERAORA's heart raced as he pushed his limits for his trainer.

Several seconds later, Laurence Anderson might experience similar stresses on his body, his ARTICUNO banking back and forth at almost perpendicular angles to make the repeated tight turns. The back-and-forth could easily have been intense enough to be vertigo-inducing. The ice-type's talons scraped one of the turns' inside ethereal walls, upsetting the duo's rhythm, sending them on a collision course with the next curve's inside phantom barrier. The Iceborne Mirage had maintained just enough speed to recover lift and maneuver through the rest of the snake-like section with ease. Little did they know that the phantoms' dirtiest trick was coming up, and almost at the end of the race, too...

Prompt: If it weren't enough that the Dead Man's Curves the racers had just passed induced muscle soreness in their Pokémon, the ghosts' single most devious trick was coming up. A long straightaway let Pokémon build up speed just in time for a dive to an extremely wide lower section of the track. It was all a trap; the incline left the leap semi-blind. There was a second incline on the bottom with a yellow, orange, and red, arrow-shaped heat zone at its peak: a prominent indicator that racers were expected to make a complete 180 as soon as they reached the lower part of the course. Furthermore, unlike the rest of the course, there was no ethereal wall beyond the heat zone. While the incline would help Pokémon stop, Pokémon that were going too fast might not be able to do so in time to avoid a long fall into Pyre Lake!

Target Number 1: 125 (Reaction)

Special 1: Pokémon do not apply ranks in Speed to this Obstacle. Pokémon that roll beneath this Obstacle's Target Number will lose 1% Stamina for every 2 points by which the Target Number exceeds the Pokémon's Total Roll. Pokémon that roll beneath this Obstacle's Target Number by more than 35 are unable to slow down in time and fall off the course, DISQUALIFYING them from the race.

The big drop off beckoned Josh's racing instincts to go fast. While Raikiri rapid heartbeat kept the rider from asking his Pokémon to go all-out, the thundercat did pick up the pace before leaping off the edge to the rainbow-colored section of the phantom road below.

The big, flashing heated area below gave Josh a metaphorical heart attack as it was apparent he and his beleaguered mount were headed right for it. The Gym Leader let out a scream as he tugged back on Raikiri's reins as hard as he could, but it was too late. Nothing was stopping their momentum now. All the Zeraora could do was brace for impact and hope he could slow down in time. His heart skipped a second beat as he realized that, unlike everywhere else on the track, there was nothing stopping him from falling if he overshot! Would there be something to catch him if he fell off? There truly was nothing off-limits for the ghosts of Phantom Road, was there?!

The sort of curve the ghosts of PHANTOM ROAD threw at the riders of both rare Pokémon was forbidden by the Hoenn Racing League for a reason, even barring the stage hazards at its end. Laurence Anderson and his ARTICUNO had ample time to observe Josh Devlin and his ZERAORA handle the vicious U-turn, given how far behind they were. While they couldn't get a clear view of the entire part of the course below due to the incline, they may have been able to see just how sharp of a reversal of momentum was needed.

Josh Devlin may have felt immense tension in the ZERAORA's muscles as they were stretched to their limits trying to kill the electric Pokémon's tremendous speed. Sweat dripped from the back half of the thundercat, both mount and rider feeling the swell of hot air above the floating Chandelure's burning candles. It took almost every bit of the widened track for them to slow down, but they managed to reverse direction just short of the glowing arrow.

Next, it was Laurence Anderson 's turn. Icy wings rose perpendicular to air flow, the ARTICUNO braking as hard as they could. In the middle of the swoop to turn around, the ice bird just barely flew above the nearest Chandelure, their right wing singed. While it was still more than functional, the Composed and Patron would have to compensate for the imbalance in the home stretch!

Prompt: The home stretch was all that remained. While there was no official waving a checkered flag, the arch the two started at was in sight. There was little risk of an accident on this straight sprint to the finish! Now was the best opportunity for the legendary and mythical Pokémon to give it everything they had!

Target Number 1: 0 (Speed)

Special 1: None

Only minor curves remained in the last few hundred meters of the race. With the speed Raikiri could get to, only seconds remained in the race, with not a hazard in sight. Though he was far, far ahead of Lars, he wasn't giving this race anything less than his all. Doing so would be disrespectful to the Zeraora, to his own reputation as a Gym Leader, and to Raikou, if he was watching. "Raikiri, floor it! Use your QUICK ATTACK!"

Josh's facial flesh flew to the back of his head from the blistering speed the thundercat shot forward at. He could feel his partner's breathing get heavier and heavier as the long seconds passed, the racer pushing his mount's body to both their limits. It was pressure the Zeraora was not used to, as this was his first race. Racing was not common for the mythical Pokémon, as they were not allowed to compete in non-exhibition races, and it was not often Josh got a challenger that came in with a legendary Pokémon. He was hoping to make a good first impression upon the Composed with a likely-feeling first place finish!

The internal strife between the Composed and his Patron couldn't have been more apparent. As the challenger was internally arguing with the ARTICUNO, Josh Devlin and his ZERAORA had already crossed the arch, and with it, the finish line. He had a front-row seat to see one of the most underwhelming bursts of AGILITY a legendary Pokémon displayed in recent memory. It was still fast, but nowhere near what was expected of the Iceborne Mirage.

For nearly six seconds, the Gym Leader would get to watch Laurence Anderson and his ARTICUNO fly toward the finish line. They crossed in a flourish of whistling wind that hurtled them forward at impressive speeds, but by then, it was too late. This wasn't just a mere victory for Josh. He had outright skunked Lars. Perhaps it was even an embarrassment for the Avatar.

Josh could feel his Zeraora's racing heartbeat, pumping blood to the thundercat's tired legs as the two faced Lars and Articuno. "...What happened out there?" he asked the Head Ranger. "It's like you weren't even trying. Instead of working with one another, you were working against each other. If the bond between Avatar and Patron is much like the bond between Sygna Pokémon and the Suit's wearer, which is what I've heard from others with Sygna Suits, then yours leaves something to be desired."

The Gym Leader's scathing, perhaps out-of-line remarks, continued. "All it took was one SUPERSONIC SKYSTRIKE and you were back in the race. I saw your Articuno fight at Meteno. I know they can use it. They have more than enough speed to beat Raikiri in a straight competition. I'm gonna be brutally honest, Lars. Until you two resolve whatever feud you have, you'll never beat us. You and your Articuno can come back to Mauville Gym when you're able to truly ride as one again. I want to see the Articuno you directed at Meteno. That's the Articuno I want to race against. Once you bring that Articuno back, let's go again. Until then, I'm so sorry, but I can't award you a Badge."

The course, and their ghostly environment, slowly began to fade to white, Braver the Arcanine preparing to TELEPORT them back to Mauville Gym proper.